Adam Scott hits his tee shot on the 14th hole during the second round of the Farmers Insurance Open golf tournament at Torrey Pines Golf Course, San Diego.

Golf

Scott gives himself a chance at Torrey Pines after a 66

26th Jan 2019 1:48 PM

ADAM Scott insists forecast strong winds will make it tough for world No.1 Justin Rose to run away with the Farmers Insurance Open lead in the third round.

Scott produced an impressive eagle in a solid second round at the US PGA Tour event at California's Torrey Pines but still finished seven shots back of Englishman Rose.

Rose made light work of Torrey Pines' notoriously difficult South course during a six-under 66 that elevated him to 15-under - three shots ahead of Hideki Matsuyama (66), with 2017 champion Jon Rahm (72) sharing third at 10 under.

Former world No.1 Scott stunned the crowd with a 200m second shot he fired into the par-five 17th (his eighth hole) for a tap-in eagle, which highlighted a 66 that gave him an eight-under total and a share of ninth.

The tournament's final 36 holes will be played on the South course, which was ranked the eighth hardest on the PGA Tour last year and hosted the 2008 US Open.

Winds of up to 25km/h predicted for day three won't make the task any easier.

"Winds are good for the guys trailing because it gives you a chance to have a good round and make up some ground," Scott said.

"Of course the leaders feel a little bit more pressure, too. It's very easy to make errors on that South course."

Rose is looking to continue his purple patch, which includes a win, two runner-up finishes and three other top-five results in his past nine starts worldwide.

But 13-time PGA Tour winner Scott is confident of making up ground on Rose, having showed flashes of his ball-striking brilliance on Friday.

Combined with a hot putter, Scott hit 13 of 18 greens in regulation and found 11 of 14 fairways.

"Some good ball-striking over the weekend will go a long way because it's hard to get it going for 18 holes out there - it's just so difficult," Scott said.

Scott is the leading Australian, two shots ahead of defending champion Jason Day (71) at six-under.

Meanwhile, Tiger Woods conceded it would take a miracle to claw his way back into contention following a 70 that left him at four-under and 11 shots adrift of Rose.

"I'm going to have to play a very special weekend to have a chance," Woods said.

"I'm pretty far back and the South course, it's tough."

Cameron Smith (69) is next best of the Australians at four-under, while John Senden (73), Marc Leishman (73), Matt Jones (74) and Cameron Davis (69) all sit at three-under.